Projects '53 Dodge Junkyard Project

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I've had this car for 5 years now and never really had time to work on it. It's a '53 Dodge Meadowbrook with a 230 c.i. flathead 6 and a 3 speed manual transmission. I bought it from a junkyard pretty much complete minus the front seat and some broken trim. The motor was locked up and the floor has holes in it but it's pretty much all there. I figured I would post my progress on here in hopes that I could get some advice along the way. I still don't have much time to work on it but I try to do a little bit each week. I've got the motor and trans out and I've taken 5 of the 6 pistons out which will need to be replaced as well as most of the engine parts I'm sure. I'll try to post pictures as I go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

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That '54 stick shift setup you have is worth soemthing to the right people if you end up using some other emgine trans combo. The '53 and '54 Dodge and Desoto stick shifts, 6 and/or V8 use a long bellhousing to accommodate the Fluid Drive and Gyromatic (M6) semiautomatics. But when just straight stick, the same bell housing is used and the transmission input shaft is much longer, as is the throw out bearing carrier, to span the distance to the stick flywheel/clutch. With this parts and semiauto car can be made fully manual using all stock other parts of the clutch and shifting mechanisms.

The Holy Grail for fans of older semi-stock Mopars is an Overdrive manual trans with the long input shaft......which can be swapped into a short input Mopar OD trans, though not found on every street corner, are nonetheless more commonly found than the long shaft version.

A good prospect for swapping into your Dodge would be the 1952/'54 265 cubic inch Chrysler Spitfire flathead six. About twenty years ago I put one into a '51 Dodge Diplomat Hardtop along with eliminating the Gyromatic and using the long shaft manual (w/OD) trans and it was both quite peppy and a great highway cruiser. Your '54 Meadowbrook is pretty light weight and would liven up a lot with the 265".

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I do have the overdrive in this car. The very long input shaft was a pain to pull out while lying underneath the car in my driveway. I plan to rebuild this motor, a 265 would be nice though. Maybe a future project.

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The engine the car came with is pretty decent.
It has more tourque then horse power, but you run it under 3600 rpm and it will run all day long.
They made that same motor up into the 1970's, used it in airport tugs, trucks over seas and stationary industrial equiptment.
You have a good engine, possible you can find another that runs from someone who is swapping in a v8. I would not kick that flathead 6 to the curb.

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My plan is to keep the original motor in that car. It needs new pistons, rings, rods, pins, bushings, bearings and gaskets. I haven't disassembled the valve train yet but I think I may need a new cam. I'll probably bore it .40 or .60 over depending on what it needs and it's benefits. That motor is definitely staying with the car unless it's too expensive to keep it.

ALLIANCE MEMBER

My plan is to keep the original motor in that car. It needs new pistons, rings, rods, pins, bushings, bearings and gaskets. I haven't disassembled the valve train yet but I think I may need a new cam. I'll probably bore it .40 or .60 over depending on what it needs and it's benefits. That motor is definitely staying with the car unless it's too expensive to keep it.

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Good choice and happy to hear you have the overdrive transmission. Looking forward to seeing updates on your project. The '53/'54 Dodge 2 doors sedans are as good looking a 'shoebox' as their more plentiful cousins.

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True, but that is not what I was referring to. All the 6 cylinder Dodge, DeSoto and Chrysler passenger car engines thru ‘53 & manual trans ‘54, as well as ‘52/‘53 Dodge and DeSoto V8 engines were equipped with a detachable bell housing, not an ‘extended bell block’ like the ‘’51/‘53 Chrysler V8. The reason being, most of the Mopars other than Plymouth, were equipped with one of the semi-automatic transmissions. The link between those transmissions and the engine was, beginning at the crank....a fluid coupling and on the back of which was a manual clutch assembly. That took up a fair amount of real estate and the long(er) bell housing was needed.

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Up to 1954 1/2 actually... I own a 1954 331 Hemi with a extended bell, it came with a 2 BBL Carburetor. I own a couple 1954 non extended bell housing 331 Hemi's also, both were 4 BBL engines. All 3 of them are stamped C54. A neat piece of history very few know about.

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Up to 1954 1/2 actually... I own a 1954 331 Hemi with a extended bell, it came with a 2 BBL Carburetor. I own a couple 1954 non extended bell housing 331 Hemi's also, both were 4 BBL engines. All 3 of them are stamped C54. A neat piece of history very few know about.

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Long tails were supposed to be in the NYer & the 4 bl engine in the NYer Deluxe & Imperials. Seems not too many long tails were actually used.

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Thank you George for the information.

Long or short, a Hemi is a Hemi in my book. I am a three speed and a four speed guy, so running a early extended bell just makes things easier for me. I just wish that they made adapters to use Mopar transmissions on the early Hemi's! Dang it! Nothing tougher than the good ol A833, my favorite 4 speed transmission of all time.